The Journey of the Daring Condor

The Isle of Manguak

21

JUL/14

@MonkofLords: The group had returned to the port from the capital of Khitai, the blessing of Kun Lun with them. They knew two of the locations. One with the Kurgan Tribes of Sycthia to the East, and one somewhere amongst the island nations of the Elysium Sea.
As they returned to the boat, the trio noticed that the boat appeared more…crowded than before. There were many people on the ship that just weren’t there before.
The captain appears to be talking to a one eyed Balam woman, discussing something. The captain greets the group with a smile as they return.
“Good evening friends! I hope you don’t mind, we’ve been up a little understaffed I feel, so I tried hiring around and found this group here! Ex slaves I believe…?”
Sirena: grins at the group as they walk up "That would be right! she nods to the Captain
Asim: “Your ship, Captain…”
“We’re along for the wild ride..”
@MonkofLords: He nods with a serious expression, “Yes, she is a bit testy at times though. And we have to keep her from going indoors.”
He appears to be referring to the ship
Asim: “We do have a few places we’d like go…because it is tied to those swords we spoke of..”
Sirena: “Oh? Excellent the wilder the better” she tilts her head “sword?”
Yaax: Looks Sirena over and nods. “Oh, I like the Captain’s choice in new Crew members.”
@MonkofLords: “Magic swords.” The Captain states, “We have…one…I think…where are we headed next?”
Asim: “It is a long tale…perhaps after we get going and your duties permit..”
“Which is closes, Elysium Isles or the Lands of the Kirgan?”
Onarius: looks at Sirena smiling “Fantastic, just joined my self not long ago and it has been very exciting let me tell you!”
Sirena: “I know how to pick them” she grins at Onarius then turns to Yaax “Wow…you’re tall…and blue” blink “Neat!”
Yaax: “I am very tall and very blue.” he agrees.
@MonkofLords: “Well, the Elysium Ocean is just south of here…a bit to the west. We’d have to round the coast of Jambu to return to Sycthia.”
Sirena: “heh”
Yaax: “Can I vote for Elysium? I can at least speak that language.”
Asim: “Lets us go to the ocean then, and save Scythia until we search there a bit..”
@MonkofLords: The captain smiles, “Well then, it’s been a while…but let’s shove off then. We are in for a long journey friends!”
Yaax: “Oh yes!” Grins then vanishes up the gangplank.
@MonkofLords: “Manuak of the Manuan nation is the closest island to here…they are a more…confrontational people. But that’s half the fun!”
Sirena: “So Cap what do you want me to handle while on this trip?”
@MonkofLords: He pauses, “You shall attend to the away teams in nature and trail blaze for us. Also, once we have a hive, you shall attend to the beekeeping.”
He walks off.
Asim: “Bee keeping?”
“..I never know if he’s serious or not..”
Sirena: “I’m not a fan of bees….but hell why not!”
Onarius: shrugs “He told me I was to learn to dance, not that I would object just seemed an odd request.”
@MonkofLords: The crew sets off on their voyage…and it is quite long, there is a great stretch of sea between Jambu and the Elysium Sea.
There are many days and nights of nothing but ocean in all directions. Any sane man would not make the journey. Which is fortunate that you have the captain.
Asim: “He sees in ways we do not…I’m not always sure if that’s madness..”
@MonkofLords: There are many horrors that can live in the seas, which is why most men stay as close to the coast as they can. Even the Triton people do not fare well in certain portions of the ocean, as they can attest of the creatures of the deep.
Sirena: “To each there own. One man’s crazy is another man’s…well crazy!”
@MonkofLords: One of the sailors even claims to have seen a massive fin attached to a serpentine body disappear under the waves one night. He has not left the bowels of the ship since then.
The captain made no comment on that sighting.
Yaax: Sings happily at the wheel. “How soft the breeze through the island trees, Now the ice is far astern. Them native maids, them tropical glades Is awaiting our return. Even now, their big brown eyes look out, Hoping some fine day to seeOur baggy sails running ’fore the gales, Rolling down to…” pauses to watch someone on the deck below.
Onarius: nods “Tis not my place to comment on others sanity, just to hope that the do well with what they have.”
Asim: “..Keep a sharp watch, but don’t let fear rule you..we’ve more than enough arms and men, to make anything that tries to snack on us, at least think twice..”
@MonkofLords: Finally, right when the ocean seemed endless, land appeared over the horizon. The man in the crow’s nest yelled out, “Managuak! Over the horizon!”
The crew cheers.
Yaax: “About damned time.”
@MonkofLords: The air is warm and humid, and as the island comes into view, it appears to be quite tropical.
There appears to be a settlement, but not a port. The captain mentions that this is an outlier within Manua.
Given there is no port, they will have to raft to shore.
Asim: “Is there an island we should start with?”
@MonkofLords: The captain shrugs, “From what you’ve told me, the guy we are looking for is in solitude on some small island somewhere. I have no idea where that may be.”
Sirena: leans on a mast looking at the island “Man that was a boring trip”
Asim: "I’m sure the natives may know…
@MonkofLords: “Yes, asking around may be a good place to start, that or the Tritons that live beneath the waves, but I have no way of contacting them.”
Yaax: “then we should go find some Natives. Beat them senseless and then makes them tell us where to look.”
Sirena: “I agree with him”
Asim: “Speaking with them might work better.”
Sirena: “But that’s so boring!”
Yaax: “Not if they are as confrontational as we have been told.”
@MonkofLords: “The choice is yours friend.”
Asim: “While we come near I must speak to the wind..”
“Oh little daughter of the queen, dancing across our stern, hear my whispers words, and do as I am seeking…here is smoke in offering, a flavor of oak and ash..from far away where cousins blow cold and the sun does not as long last…”
Asim: burns some smoking wood and wafts it into the air while chanting that for 10 minutes and walking in a circle
Asim: “Oh little daughter…heed me as I speak, find the object whose name we know…across the silent sea..”
Onarius: watches Asim and looks to Yaax slightly crestfallen
Onarius: “No confrontational natives?”
Asim: “I have a possible location…”
“We’ve been at sea to long to not rest and visit the land first…”
Sirena: “Was that the answer you got? or is that a suggestion?”
Yaax: “not sure it is going to be as fun as the last stop.” he mutters and scratches the end of his nose with a claw.
Asim: “….There are DEMONS here!”
“On the island..friendly or not..we must fight them…”
Sirena: “Really!?”
Asim: "I sense the same heat, somewhere, here, like that of the one place Yaax has heard me speak of a million times..
Yaax: “Oh. Fun.”
Asim: “Its moving swiftly on the island…it may be looking for the blade…we must stop it….”
@MonkofLords: The captain nods, “A demon…would be dangerous.”
Onarius: “Demon, this journey gets more and more interesting…so how does one pray tell deal with demons?”
Asim: “Demon, or servant of him…”
“Who seeks a way into the world..”
“Either way, we need our best arms and magics ready..”
@MonkofLords: “Shall I have the men prepare the raft?”
Sirena: head tilts forward as she dozes waiting for people to decide what to do
Asim: “Yes…even if I must go alone..”
@MonkofLords: The captain nods, “I wish thee luck. I’ll send a few sailors to gather supplies…and get your rods out men! It’s time to fish!”
The sailors begin preparing two rafts to reach the isle of Manguak
Sirena: head snaps up “Alone? Why would you be going alone? I demand to go with you friend”
Onarius: nods and smiles “Indeed, why on earth would we let you go this alone. Besides, who knows what we could find there!”
Asim: “You can go..but I wasn’t wanting to risk your lives…”
@MonkofLords: The rafts are ready to move to the island when the groups are.
Sirena: snorts “Life is no fun without risking your life ever so often”
Yaax: Gets his gear ready and gets on a raft.
Asim: “All life is risk, every breath we take dangerous, we just forget this..”
Sirena: “I never forget that” she grins as she grabs her things. She follows Yaax onto the raft
@MonkofLords: The trek on the raft was quick. The water was crystal clear, and numerous species of fish can be seen in the water.
Asim: keeps his ghostly eyes shoreward towards the demon, or spirit, or whatever burns…
@MonkofLords: Numerous outrigger canoes can be seen in the nearby village. You see some movement, around the village, but you do notice some defensive walls around it, and they look…hastily built.
As you close in, you notice the people. Dark skinned, with little, but vibrant clothing. Most of the people are tatooed, and appear to have wooden weaponry, such as clubs and shark toothed blades.
Onarius: “Think it is our arrival or something else?”
@MonkofLords: You notice men with tattooed faces, and weapons are at the shore waiting for your arrival.
Yaax: “they look friendly.”
Asim: casts his eyes about…
Sirena: “Very!”
@MonkofLords: There is a man with a tall headdress standing amongst them. He is not readily holding his weapon, but he is a massive man, standing two heads above all his brethren.
He is glaring in your general direction.
As you close in, you speaks in Elysian, “Turn back foreigners, you are not welcome in Manuan lands.”
Asim: “Yaax? What did he say?”
Yaax: “He said go home. What do you want me to say to him in return?”
Asim: “We sense something terrible, hunting your lands, a demon…we must stop it?”
“Or something like that…”
“Are you thinking on it?”
Yaax: In Elysian “Something dark is haunting your lands and we have come to stop it.”
@MonkofLords: The man nods, “Yes, though currently this…thing is quite bright. What reason would you have to stop such a creature? What business is this to you?”
Asim: “I fought at the Black Tower, to keep its father ch.a
chained. away from the world..and it seeks tools to harm all men.”
Yaax: “He seems to be fond of it, Asim.”
Asim: “Fond of the creature?”
@MonkofLords: The man glares. You do notice some of the men of his are…burned badly. There are scorch and claw marks on their encampment walls.
As though something was trying to break in.
Asim: “We will go fight, if you let us…”
@MonkofLords: The man paused. He didn’t fully understand the language, but the meaning came to him, he turned, his orange cloak flowing in the tropical breeze, “If you wish to throw your lives away to the burning man, so be it, perhaps it will give my people at least one night of rest.”
Sirena: “He said we could go right?”
@MonkofLords: The warriors follow him warily.
Yaax: “that was a ‘It is your funeral’ moment. We don;t really have his blessing but he won’t stop us.”
Sirena: “Works for me!”
@MonkofLords: The group is allowed to land.
Asim: “Before we get to near..let me know if you see it..I can grant our front line fighters a bit of protection..”
Onarius: “Close enough I suppose.”
Yaax: “Fine.”
Sirena: “Can do” she tilts her head “Umm what does it look like?”
Asim: "Don’t know, but they said it was a burning man..’
Yaax: “He called it the burning man.”
Sirena: “Well hopefully he wasn’t just being colorful”
Asim: “We need to head towards the mountain..”
Yaax: “yes yes. Let’s go! Fame and glory await!”
Sirena: “Oh I joined the right crew!”
@MonkofLords: The jungle before is thick, and dense. You do see a few torched trees, with…ten fingered hands that appear to have gripped the trees.
There is a torched path…leading into the jungle.
Onarius: “Fantastic! I can’t wait to see this demon!”
Asim: “Watch carefully now…the thingis dangerous”
Sirena: “Is it? Well so am I so it’s all good” she smirks as they follow the path
@MonkofLords: The jungle was dense above them. Various lizards, insects, and colorful birds could be seen, except along the torched paths. They seemed to avoid it. As you move closer to the mountain, you hear a loud, painful noise.
It becomes clearer the closer you get, and night is beginning to fall. It is a scream, and long, painful, and unnatural scream.
Yaax: “Oh that sounds promising.”
Asim: “Twisted mockery of life..”
@MonkofLords: It never seems to cease, only fading in and out.
Then you begin to feel heat. And the night sky is slowly lit up by an incoming flame…
Yaax: “Great.”
Asim: “At least we can see to fightin the dark..”
@MonkofLords: The scream glows louder, as something bursts into a clearing before you, next to the mountain. What you see is a terrifying being…bathed in flames, as bright as the sun. The being itself seems to have three monstrous heads, each with one eye and single circular mouth. It has three arms, and seventeen legs. It is purple beneath the flames, its skin like an aligator.
The flames don’t seem to match up to its body, and it appears to be in great pain.
Yaax: “Any way to douse that thing?”
Asim: casts his spell on Yaax
Asim: “I do know know….let me prepare you first…”
Yaax: “Great.” Draws his sword. “Lady, how do you feel about fire?”
Sirena: “Oh I like and dislike it” she pulls out her bow
Yaax: “Then we shall touch it as little as possible.”
Sirena: “Sounds like a brillent idea”
Asim: “That is not a man, at least…but a true demon..”
Yaax: “Well then Lovely let us see if I can wield you as you wish.” Concentrates a moment then swings the blade at the air between him and the Demon.
Sirena: blinks “Is he talking to his weapon?”
Asim: “Yes. She talks back, as do the other blades..”
Electricity crackles in Asim’s hands and a spear of vibran cerulean energy forms
@MonkofLords: The burning man…or at least one of the heads notices you all, “You!…I know that scent…I am Ba’al! Where is the man with the blade of the sun?!”
Asim: “The blade is gone….hidden from you demon..”
Sirena: “Blade of the sun?” she pulls out an arrow “Interesting” she fires six shots in rapid fire.
@MonkofLords: Only one arrow misses. The rest strike home, causing the demon to cry out in further pain. One strikes it directly in one of its eyes, causing it to shriek, “DAMNYOUMORTAL”
“I SHALLRENDYOURFLESHASUNDERANDFEASTUPONYOURTOES”
Asim: “Good shot….cat..”
Sirena: “Sirena not cat” she chuckles “My toes oh no no no you can’t have those I need those”
Asim: “Very well Sirena not cat…I am Asim..”
Sirena: “Oh nice name! So do you take all girls you meet on such fun outing? or am I special?”
Asim: “Oh…only special girls..”
Sirena: “Good to know you think I’m special”
Yaax: The blade swings seeming to strike nothing , yet in the glow of the demon’s flames a thin line seems to connect the blade to the beast. A quick twist of the wrist retracts the wire and launches another into the monster before a twits of the hilt returns it also.
@MonkofLords: The monster shudders in pain, “Does the wind mock me as well!?!?! So be it, you shall all be devoured.”
Asim: Arcing lightning leaps from, Asim’s hand and enshrouds the beast in sky fire.
@MonkofLords: The lightning strike the demon causing it to roar in frustration.
His remaining two heads roar an unnatural roar, and it quakes in your head violently
It almost feels like your blood’s about to seep out your ears, and drain from your eyes. Thankfully, you all hold on.
Sirena: “Oh that is not a fun feeling!” she shakes her head and fires an arrow at the Demon “I don’t like you anymore”
Yaax: shakes his head. “Oww! Damn beastie!”
@MonkofLords: The arrow strike it right in the chest, and it gasps. As you look closer, you notice that the flames appear to be torching away its tough scales. It cries out in pain, “I have…to find that old man…who did this to me…I will devour him…and shatter that sword…damn him…DAMNHIM…DAMNHIM!!!!”
He shambles towards you, most of his legs no longer functioning before collapsing on the ground.
“ITSNOT…FAIR….”
Asim: “Turn back from this world..it will never be yours!”
Onarius: steps forward and waves his hands creating a downpour over the monster dousing its flames.
@MonkofLords: The creature shudders under the deluge, and whimpers, before fading. One more phrase leaves its…‘lips’, “Damn you…Samanoa…”
The form twitches, and fades into a disgusting blackness, leaving only flames, which slowly disperse.
Asim: “Well done my friends…Well DONE.”
@MonkofLords: The sun…begins to creep out from beyond the horizon line. Day…has returned.
Yaax: “The Lady says those were Anhelus’s flames.”
Asim: “I imagine they were…burning the black taint….”
@MonkofLords: The birds in the jungle once begin to sing again. For now, the island is safe, and this demon of Ba’al…is dead.
Yaax: “He scorched him well and true. So we know another blade is close at hand. But where?” he hefts the sword before him. “Can you feel him Lovely?”
Sirena: “I most definatly joined the right group” she looks around as she listens to the birds “I want a magic sword to”
Asim: “An island some ways from here…I think, but not so far as would punish us to go…”
“The swords have driven some mad, others to ruin..”
“but they are needed..to fight such terrors..”
Sirena: shrugs “I’m up for anything crazy might be fun…ruin not so much”
Yaax: “She says she can not hear his incessant boasting about tormenting that creature. So..” He turns to Asim and the rest. “what now?”
Asim: “We return to the boat…and move to find Anhelus..”